Un-Arranging an Arranged Marriage
by THE Tazzy Devil
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki finally became what he always wanted, The Hokage of Konoha. And Hinata Hyuuga, through blood, sweat and tears finally became head of the Hyuuga clan. But one problem arises, the only way she can stay head is if she goes through with an arranged marriage. NaruHina.
1. Chapter 1

**Un-Arranging an Arranged Marriage...**

 **A/N: I know, it's been a very long time. But this is a two part story that has been nagging me for a very long time. I was just looking through my computer the other day, and saw all these things that I'd written (some that were finished, many that weren't) but never published. So, you may have noticed I've published 'Unknown' that was one I found on my computer (not initially to be a oneshot but maybe I'll add chapters later) and this one, which was mostly finished.**

 **This is pretty long, and I could separate it into maybe 4 or five parts, but I hope you guys are happy with reading it in big chunks – it's a personal preference, I think. I almost published this as a one shot (but its almost 10,000 words – not even finished yet – and I didn't want to torture you all)**

 **I'm still finishing up the second part of this story (literally only the finale left), so I thought I'd publish this for you today, and get the rest of it to you in a couple of days. I hope you enjoy it, and I'm sorry I haven't been writing in a long time!**

 _Summary:_ _Naruto Uzumaki finally became what he always wanted, The Hokage of Konoha. And Hinata Hyuuga, through blood, sweat and tears finally became head of the Hyuuga clan. But one problem arises, the only way she can stay head is if she goes through with an arranged marriage. Hinata, distressed, tells Naruto the news, and there's no way he's going to let one of his best friends go through with an arranged marriage they don't want! He just needs to find out how to stop it._

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

Naruto sighed, walking through the almost empty streets of his village. There were only few people around, and all would smile and wave at him as he walked past. He loved this. He loved being the Hokage, he loved protecting the village, he loved _the village_.

But something wasn't quite right.

He had thought, once he became Hokage, everything would be perfect. That he would love it, and that would be all he'd need, so he'd live like this forever. But he felt as though something was missing. He just didn't know what.

Continuing on his walk, he spotted a raven-haired woman turn swiftly down the corner in front of him, and his eyes lit up. He hadn't seen Hinata in ages! Considering both of them were very busy now, Hinata had just become leader of the Hyuuga clan, and Naruto had just become Hokage. The two really had spent much time together. Which sucked, really, because they used to spend a tonne of time together.

He missed that.

Their walks through the village, the endless nights they'd spend on the Hokage mountain, how she'd just smile at him when he ate his ramen like a savage animal and even when they'd just sit at the park and talk for hours about anything at all.

Everyone else had been so busy. Sakura was charge at the hospital, had gotten married to Sasuke and now had a kid on the way. Shino, Choji, Ino and Shikamaru we're all leading their clans, amongst all their other shinobi duties. Ino was getting really good at interrogation, from all that training she was doing with Ibiki and was going steady with Shikamaru. Kiba was one of the best trackers in ANBU, and worked in a very advanced team with Sai, Neji, Tenten and Kakashi. Lee had even opened up his own dojo, and was teaching people how to fight honourably, which he was so proud of.

This had left Naruto alone for a long time. He had tried to hang out with them, but they always had something important to do... Until he'd came across Hinata. She had been busy trying to make sure her little sister Hanabi didn't get the caged-bird seal when Hinata became the leader. The Hyuuga clan had already decided – years before – that Hinata should be the next leader to the Hyuuga clan. She had grown so strong, and had a good head on her shoulders, and after thoroughly impressing the Hyuuga clan elders with her ANBU records and other achievements, they had decided she would be the best choice.

She was immensely busy too, during all that time.

But she found time for _him_.

She took unnecessary breaks so she could have lunch with him almost every day. She _knew_ he was feeling lonely, even though he wouldn't tell her. She knew he wouldn't want to be alone, so she sacrificed her time to be with him.

And that meant a lot to him.

The others, they were always busy, they always had something better to do, and Naruto understood that. But Hinata, for some reason, put him _above_ all her other duties, and that made him feel important. Wanted. And he loved every minute he spent with her.

But once he became Hokage, and she became leader of the Hyuuga clan, they were so busy they couldn't even _do_ anything else for ages.

Until now.

Naruto ran to Hinata who had just turned the corner, and grabbed her shoulder.

Hinata spun on her feet, startled. She had been stressing out for the past three days, and she was just hoping to get some tea to calm her down at her favourite tea house. She had told the elders that she wanted _no one_ to interrupt, so she wasn't expecting anyone. But turning around, only to see _Naruto_ , that shocked her. A wave of happiness flooded over her, closely followed by guilt.

"Hey Hinata-chan!" Naruto smiled at her, "I haven't been able to talk to you in ages! How have you been, Miss-Head-of-the-Hyuuga-Clan? Or should I call you Hina-Hime? Since you are a princess now," He teased.

Hinata couldn't help but smile back, Naruto just brought out that sort of reaction in her, "What about you?" She smiled, "Mr Rokudaime Hokage? Naruto- _Sama_? How does it feel to have your dream come true?"

"Well, you should know. Since becoming Head was your dream, was it not?" He started walking with her, letting her lead the way so she could continue in the direction she wished – which was still towards the tea house.

"That it was." Hinata sighed, but those thoughts only made her think back to her current complication, "But... I don't know, Naruto-kun. It doesn't feel as I expected it too... I feel as if-"

"-Something's missing?" Naruto guessed, shocked that she felt it too.

Hinata nodded, "And not only that, but..." She paused, she didn't want to tell him what was aspiring in the next few hours. Having spent so much time with him recently, she told him everything – well, except her feelings – but she didn't _want_ to tell him about this. She was worried of his reaction. She was worried that he _wouldn't_ have a negative reaction. She was worried he'd... he'd be _happy_ for her.

"What's going on?" He asked, instantly worried.

"Well..." Hinata sighed, looking up as they finally reached the tea house. Staring at the beautifully decorated shop, she decided it looked extremely unappealing at that moment, and she sighed again. "Come on, Naruto-kun. Let's go to the Hokage mountain." She needed some place more secluded anyway, so she could tell him, and so she could just think.

Naruto nodded and within a minute, the two were comfortably seated on top of the Hokage Mountain, looking down upon the village.

"What's troubling you, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked again, bringing up the subject he was insanely curious about.

"In a couple of hours," Hinata looked ahead of her, at the village so she wouldn't have to see Naruto's face, "I'll be meeting.." She sighed, "My... My fiancé." She sounded strangely unenthused.

Naruto's face scrunched up in hurt, "You're engaged... You're getting _married_ and you didn't tell me?" He asked quietly, disappointment rushing around in his head. Firstly, that she was even _dating_ someone, and she didn't tell him, and that she was _engaged_? He didn't _want_ her to be engaged. That's not okay!

They wouldn't be good enough for her. He decided, looking at the pale beauty next to him, no man was good enough for her. They would need to know how to make her laugh, the way she always looks down when she's sad, that you can only tell she's fake smiling when you can't see that little sparkle in her eyes, that she's extremely ticklish in that little spot just under her left rib-cage... But once Naruto thought those thoughts, he realised he didn't _want_ anyone else to know those things. He wanted to be the _only_ one to know Hinata like he did.

Hinata finally looked up to him, and saw the confusion and hurt on his face. Her eyes widened when she realised what he must have concluded from what she said. Putting a gentle hand on his arm, she forced him to look at her, "I don't _want_ to be married, Naruto-kun." She told him, looking deeply into his eyes as his confusion expanded, "I haven't met him before. I wasn't _dating_ anyone. It's _arranged_ , and I have no choice in the matter, because I have to be _married_."

Naruto's eyes widened, as he finally realised what Hinata was saying, "But... But _why_? They can't force you to get married. You've just become head!"

Hinata sighed, somewhat angrily – Well, as angry as Hinata can get – and clenched her knuckles together tightly, "It's because I'm a _female_." She told him quietly, "There's never been a female head before, and they've made sure of that. Until now. Now that _I'm_ the head of the clan. That a _woman_ is leading their clan, they believe that I'm stuff it up just because I don't have a-" She gasped, putting her hands over her mouth so she wouldn't finish her sentence. She couldn't believe it, she was just about to say... She looked at Naruto, bright red with embarrassment.

Naruto looked at her, stunned for a moment, before he burst out laughing. "Oh, Hina-Hime. I can't believe it! You were about to say 'dick', weren't you? You've definitely been around me too much!" He laughed, and Hinata had to join in. His laugh always was contagious.

She smiled at him as she stopped laughing, "Oh, gosh." She was still blushing, "I definitely _have_ been around you too much, Naruto-kun." She laughed slightly, "I'd never... just imagine the look on my father's face if I burst out with _that_ in the middle of a clan meeting." She said quietly, which just set Naruto off again, Hinata only to follow.

Naruto smiled, still chuckling slightly as he looked at his companion, "Boy, I've missed you, Hina-Hime." He told her sincerely. These sort of conversations they had, always put him in the best mood, and he hadn't realised he was missing them until they had another one.

Hinata smiled at him, "I've missed you too, Naruto-kun." With a slight blush on her face.

"You know what?" Naruto immediately turned serious, thinking back to their previous conversation, "As soon as you're done with this meeting, come by the Hokage building. I'm sure I can find a way to get you out of this, Hinata-chan. We'll just need to work on it."

Hinata's eyes sparkled as she looked up at the blonde Hokage, hope clearly seen on her face; a look that made Naruto proud to be the one who put it on her head. "Really?" She asked, "But... I don't want to be a bother, Naruto-kun. I mean, I'm sure you have better things to do..." The hope immediately vanished.

"Hinata Hyuuga," Naruto looked at her seriously, already missing that look on her face, "For _months,_ when every single one of my other friends were busy, you _made_ time for me. You definitely had better things to do. You were stressing out about being the head, about your little sister, and even though it was wasting time that could've been spent trying to solve your problems, you hung out with me. You decided 'to hell with all this important clan stuff I have to do, I'm gonna spend the day with Naruto'. And you did it without fail for three months!" He looked at her shocked face. She had no idea he had paid that much attention to what was going on in her life. She had no idea that hanging out with him meant that much to her.

But she smiled.

The words he said to her made her heart soar, and she couldn't stop the priceless smile from appearing on her stunning face.

And Naruto couldn't help but smile back, she had that sparkle in her eyes again.

Hinata leaned down and hugged him tightly, "I have to get going," She said quietly, but knew he could hear her anyway. He listened a whole lot more then people gave him credit for, "But I'll come by as soon as the meeting's over. Thank you, Naruto-kun." She let go of him, pausing only to kiss him gently on the cheek, before disappearing with the skill she had as an ANBU specialist assassin without even a poof of smoke towards the Hyuuga Compound.

And Naruto stood, staring ahead of him, thinking about the feeling of her lips on his cheek, and grinned.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

He couldn't think straight. For the remainder of the day, Naruto Uzumaki couldn't do any paperwork, because he couldn't get his mind off of his best friend. How was she going? Who were they making her marry? Did they put up any conditions? What was happening? 

But all he could do was wait.

Sighing, he created several shadow clones, and let _them_ do the paperwork – as he usually did, because paperwork got really annoying after an hour of it – and paced around his office.

"If you don't have an appointment, you can't enter," Naruto stopped as he heard his guards speak.

He couldn't quite hear the next voice, only hearing a soft jumble of words, but instantly knew who it was.

"No appointment, no entry." The guard said loudly, and Naruto was just about to go out there and give that guy a piece of his mind when he heard another voice speak.

"Hey! That's no way to speak to a lady – and not just _any_ lady, Lady Hinata, _head_ of the Hyuuga clan." Konohamaru's voice echoed down the halls, and Naruto was instantly grateful for his assistant. "She and Rokudaime-Sama are very good friends and he _told me_ that she was coming in after an important meeting. So let her in, _now_." The seventeen year old Konohamaru ordered, loudly.

Hinata gave Konohamaru a small grateful smile, trying to hold back all the feelings that were coming forth due to her most recent meeting and slipped silently inside Naruto's office.

Once she closed the door behind her, she finally let the devastated expression that she was holding back fall on her face, tears immediately coming to her eyes, but she wasn't going to let them fall.

Naruto, who was watching her from the moment she entered his office, had her in his arms the instant he saw that look on her face. She looked so heartbroken, _vulnerable_ , and he hadn't seen that look on Hinata's face for a very long time. She had grown so strong, emotionally and physically, and he had not seen her cry _once_ in the past seven or so years.

"I can't do this, Naruto-kun. I can't marry _him_. I just don't know what to do. What do I do?" She asked, gripping onto Naruto tightly.

"What happened?" Naruto asked, alarmed at her reaction. She had been holding the tears in for quite a while, he could tell. And he felt special that she would only let them fall in his presence, and in his presence only. He had never seen her cry before. She never would in public.

She had actually confessed that to him once. About her fear of crying. When she was small, with the way her father treated her, she used to cry a lot. And Hiashi would only yell at her further for crying, and not only him. She was looked down on in the Hyuuga clan when she cried, people would always shut her down, only make her feel worse.

So she stopped crying in public.

And cried when she was alone.

She looked up at Naruto, who patted her back gently, eyes full of worry. This _was_ the first time she had cried in front of someone in over a decade. And she was quite shocked to see his reaction. No harsh words, no teasing, no anger. Just worry and hopelessness. He _wanted_ to help her. He just didn't know how.

"He's _in his late 40s_ , Naruto-kun! He's more than _twenty years_ older than me! He cares for nothing but himself, and only wants me as a trophy bride! He's arrogant, _boring_ , and I've only known him for twenty minutes and can't stand the perverted, stubborn, _grotesque, pompous weasel_!" She cried, burying her head deep in Naruto's chest.

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed at her description of the man she was to be married to. Late _40s_? Hinata was only twenty-one years old! The same age as himself and this so-called-man she was going to be forced to be married to was old enough to be her father! And that's down-right disgusting! "Why are they making you marry him if he's such a bastard?" He asked, angry at the Hyuuga elders for deciding such a thing.

"He's from a very wealthy and well-respected clan, _apparently_ ," Hinata's eyes narrowed angrily, "It's not like we _need_ any more money!" She sighed quietly, "But they've decided. And I don't know what to do."

Hinata's voice broke in the last sentence, and Naruto reflexively held her tightly, "It's okay, Hina-Hime. I _promise_ you, that I will get you out of this arranged marriage. _Whatever_ it takes."

Naruto was surprised when Hinata shook her head quickly, "Don't make that promise, Naruto-kun! You shouldn't have to deal with this burden. You have a village to look after. You've just become Hokage, your dream has just came true. You shouldn't deal with this. This isn't your burden to carry."

Naruto pulled Hinata away from himself gently, his hands on her shoulders as he looked her in the eye, "Too late. I've already made my promise. And you are a part of my village. I need to look after you too. You're one of my closest friends, and I won't sit around while I know you're sad! We'll get you out of this, alright?"

Seeing the look in his eyes, her own narrowed in determination, "Okay Naruto-kun." She nodded, "Thank you."

Naruto grinned, now pleased with himself in the fact that she hadn't given up, "Now, did I hear you say 'grotesque, pompous weasel'?" He laughed, "Even your insults are so posh and cute, Hina-Hime!"

She smiled shyly, looking up at him. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled, leaned over and ruffled her hair. "It's going to be okay. I promise." He grinned, "Now, did you bring a copy of that arrangement? I'll get Shikamaru to join us, and we'll find a way out of it."

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

"What am I doing here this early in the morning, Naruto?" Shikamaru stepped foot into the Hokage's office early the next morning, surprised to see Hinata standing beside the blonde looking over a piece of parchment. He knew Naruto and Hinata had been spending a lot of time together recently, but this was odd, to say the least. What was on that parchment?

"Shikamaru," Naruto's 'Hokage Voice' echoed throughout the room, causing Shikamaru to automatically straighten his back, alert, "We need your help."

"With what?"

Hinata smiled gently at the Nara. "What do you know about un-arranging an arranged marriage?"

Shikamaru blinked slowly, the dots connecting seamlessly in his mind. "You've been arranged a marriage, Hinata? With who?"

Naruto slid the parchment across the table, so Shikamaru could have a closer look. "His name is Iwao Yuuichi, from a wealthy clan in the land of iron."

Shikamaru nodded, "I don't know a lot about arranged marriages, but I'll do what I can. What are the negotiations?"

Hinata guestured to several areas within the parchment, "A wealthy sum of money will be gifted to the Hyuuga clan, as well as continuing with half the profit accumulated from their clan's trade business in iron and steels. Iwao and a select few of his advisors will join the Hyuuga clan and help the head – me – lead the clan through it's future. However the Hyuuga advisors will still have the final say in decisions over the Yuuichi elders."

SHikamaru nodded. "This position in the Hyuuga must be very well sought after – considering how little they get out of it."

Hinata sighed, blushing and looked at the ground, while Naruto grunted angrily, "A Hyuuga trophy wife? Affiliation to such a regal and wealthy clan? Hinata told me there were over 300 offers to the Hyuuga. And they chose _this guy_." Naruto growled, upset.

Hinata blushed, embarrassed, but glanced back at the clock. "I'm sorry, Naruto, Shikamaru, I have to leave. I am being forced to go out to lunch today with… _him."_

"Can't you just not go?" Naruto begged, looking up at the dainty Hyuuga.

Hinata sighed, "I need to remain the head of my clan – there are changes that I still need to make, to better us. If I want to remove the caged-bird seal and this division between branches, I need to choose my battles wisely. And I can't go against the elders without respectable evidence."

Naruto sighed, clenching and unclenching his fist at his side angrily. "Okay," He slowly breathed out. "Don't worry Hinata-chan. It'll all work out. Me and Shikamaru will find a way out of this. Come by when you can."

Hinata smiled at him, causing a flush of red to pass by his cheeks at her utter beauty. She nodded to him gently, saying a quick goodbye before spinning on her feet and disappearing out the door.

Shikamaru sighed loudly, re-catching the attention of the enamoured Hokage. "So, when did you fall in love with her?"

Naruto smiled at his friend for a moment, before the words sunk in and he spluttered for a number of seconds. "Shika-.. what.. I don't-"

"So you haven't accepted it yet?" Shikamaru asked, interrupting Naruto's pointless jabber that wouldn't have made any sense anyway.

Naruto paused, and let out one long calming breath before turning back to his comrade. "Well, I mean, I know how I feel about her." This admission stunned Shikamaru, who would've thought the blonde would've remained oblivious to his feelings up until the last possible second. "But… she's a princess. The head of the Hyuuga clan. And she's so beautiful men are lining up to get the chance to marry her. I couldn't compare to any of them… I mean, look at me."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "I am, and I don't know what you see when you look in the mirror, but from my perspective, you look a lot like a Hokage."

"I'm just… not good enough."

"And this guy is?" Shikamaru asked, pointing at the parchment in front of them. "This is so troublesome, but Naruto, you know how she feels about you."

Naruto sighed, "That was a long time ago. I was stupid, and confused, and didn't even respond to her back then. There's no way she feels the same the way I ignored her confession all those years ago. I'm _such an idiot._ I should've realised back then! I'm in _love_ with her, Shikamaru. And I don't know what I'm supposed to do about that. Especially now!" He gestures to the marriage contract.

"I think you're mature enough to figure it out, right _Hokage-sama._ "

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

 **Thoughts?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Un-Arranging an Arranged Marriage...**

 **Here's the second part. This is also where all the good stuff happens. So I hope you enjoy this last part. Also, I'm thinking about an epilogue and wanna know what you think. Thanks!**

 _Summary:_ _Naruto Uzumaki finally became what he always wanted, The Hokage of Konoha. And Hinata Hyuuga, through blood, sweat and tears finally became head of the Hyuuga clan. But one problem arises, the only way she can stay head is if she goes through with an arranged marriage. Hinata, distressed, tells Naruto the news, and there's no way he's going to let one of his best friends go through with an arranged marriage they don't want! He just needs to find out how to stop it._

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

Lunch was exhausting. Hinata did as she was told. Smiled. Was polite. Well-mannered. But inside all she wanted to do was… well, leave.

"-And what a young Hokage!" Iwao was talking about Konoha, "You'd think the leader of a village should have at least hit puberty." He laughed to himself at his joke, while Hinata 'hummed' quietly. Not impressed.

He wasn't a large noble, which was surprising for Hinata. With riches, in many occasions came weight. And it wasn't surprising, considering rich people also didn't need much exercise. The Yuuichi weren't a shinobi clan – this was chosen quite skilfully by the Hyuuga elders. They didn't want a marriage that would simply cause disruption in the clan – and a husband to her that would try and take over their shinobi affairs. He was to be simply a spokesperson (because Hinata was a woman in no way could speak for herself), while the Hyuuga elders would remain in charge of all duties and arrangements.

But Iwao was rather thin, and looked as though he was not unused to exercise. He wasn't fit like a shinobi by any means, but he had obviously been rather strong in his younger years. Probably had a hobby of fencing, or swordsmanship. Hinata mused, which wouldn't be surprising since he was from the land of Iron.

He had a great mane of grey hair, long and reaching his back, and dark eyes. She wasn't sure if the grey was because of his age – premature greying – or it had always been that colour. He obviously wasn't quite that old yet, but in his 40s, he could still pass for her father.

"Hinata, were you listening?" An eye lowered down to hers, clearly unimpressed.

Hinata painted expression on her face. The perfect Hyuuga. "My apologies, Iwao-san. I was simply lost in thought. Could you repeat yourself?" Polite. Smile. Well-mannered.

Either way, she was getting out of this marriage.

In the meantime, best not to anger the elders.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

He was going to tell her.

The timing was off. She had just been introduced to her fiancé. He hadn't even really figured out how to be a Hokage yet. And neither of them had any idea on how to stop her from getting married.

But he needed to tell her.

"Hinata!" He spotted her stepping out of the Hyuuga residence, and dutifully ignored the looks the Hyuuga guards gave him as he called out her name without honorific. It wasn't like they could say anything to him if they wanted to – he was the Hokage now, which met he was far higher up than them and couldn't be reprimanded by guards.

Hinata, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice or care about the lack of honorific, and turned to him, a gentle smile on her face.

She was dressed up, which normally would've made Naruto's heart melt. But instead, this meant that there must have been a meeting in the Hyuuga. And lately, that meant nothing but bad news for Naruto's heart.

 _Well,_ he huffed to himself. _Not anymore._

He stalked over to the young Hyuuga, determination in his stance and a twinkle in his eye, and Hinata's face fell. She saw the beauty in him, the beauty that the village was only just starting to appreciate. And she wished she could admire it for a little bit longer – considering _forever_ didn't seem to be an option anymore.

"Hinata, I-"

"-I'm leaving tomorrow."

"What?" Naruto's head shot up and they both blinked.

"I-" Hinata began to explain, but her first sentence finally seemed to process in Naruto's mind and his arms shot out to grab her by the shoulders.

"You can't get married yet!" He yelled, shaking her shoulders slightly, "I haven't fixed this! We haven't- You can't- I don't.." He fumbled over his words, looking more and more startled by the second. This wasn't okay! He wasn't ready to lose her yet! He hadn't even had enough time to try and win her over. To stop the wedding. This just couldn't be happening! Not yet.

Hinata sighed quietly, reaching a gentle hand and threading it through his fingers on her shoulders. "It's okay Naruto," She started slowly, looking up to him, "I-"

Her words muffled.

Her eyes wide.

Her lips… soft.

And it was the prettiest thing Naruto had ever seen.

He hadn't even thought. Too overwhelmed by the whole situation. He just… reacted. And then he realised what he had done, his lips pressed firmly against her own and _he_ almost fainted, blood rushing to his face. He was an idiot. Hinata was going to hate him.

He was going to regret this.

He started to step away, embarrassed and ashamed but it seemed that was the exact moment she seemed to process what was happening and her hands drifted up and gripped his slightly stubbled jaw – he hadn't shaved in almost 24 hours – and pressed his lips closer to her own.

He didn't regret it.

He grinned into the kiss, wide and satisfied. Wrapping his arms around her head and moving his lips against hers delicately. She was a vision. He knew that, even as his eyes drifted closed and one of his hands curled around her hair while the other gripped her waist.

He wasn't going to ever let go.

And then again neither was she.

He hands drifted from his stubble to the back of his head, twisting his neck so she had better access to his firm lips. They were salty, she tasted with a quiet giggle, tasting the ramen that he must have eaten for lunch. It was so strong and firm and so incredibly _Naruto_ that she couldn't help the giggle that burst from her lips, causing him to back away from her questionably for a second, only to pull himself back in moments later at the look in her eyes and smile on her lips.

The remaining moments felt like forever and yet not long enough, before she pulled away, very certain that the Hyuuga guards were watching their interaction and her fiancé was in the Hyuuga guest house not too far away and if they were caught _now_ there would be nothing but trouble for the both of them – and that was something neither of them could afford quite yet.

Naruto frowned slightly as she pulled away, before catching the glance of her eyes to the disapproving Hyuuga guards that were pretending to stare at the koi pond but he knew well enough that their attention was surely on him and the heiress.

He was drifted back to her as she smiled gently at him. "Are you gonna let me talk now?"

Naruto blinked slowly, confused. "What?"

"Naruto, I'll be back in a week." She traced her fingers across his jaw. "I'm simply seeing the Yuuichi residence. Meeting up with the elders and discussing diplomatic negotiations."

"You're not getting married yet?"

"I'm not getting married."

"We still have time?"

"We still have time." She repeated his words back to him, and he was comforted by the strength in her eyes.

They still had time.

He was going to kiss her again.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

Naruto was restless.

He couldn't find a damn thing wrong with the marriage contract, short of killing the bastard – a factor that hadn't yet been eradicated from his mind. Yet.

He was tired and lonely and it has been _four days_ since she left and here he was accomplishing nothing!

"Naruto, you need some rest." The voice of Konohamaru knocked the Hokage out of his thoughts. "You've been working too hard on all the Kage work, as well as this contract. You clearly haven't slept in days. Go home. Get some sleep. You'll work better in the morning."

Naruto didn't even have the energy to argue. He was tired and devastated. He used to always be able to _do something. Anything!_ And now he was the freaking Hokage and if anything the title was holding him back! If he could just _talk_ to the guy.

A spark.

"SHIKAMARU!" Naruto bolted up from his seat where he was almost comatose, shocking Konohamaru into instinctively creating a rasengan.

"Shikamaru's not here boss." Konohamary sighed, dismantling the rasengan and rubbing his forehead in pain. "I don't know what you-" He turned to glare at his boss, only to see an empty seat. "God dammit."

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

Shikamaru knew it was coming. He could hear the yelling from half way across the city. He gave himself ten more seconds of blissful cloud gazing before sitting up and waiting for the arrival of his knuckleheaded friend.

"He can annul the marriage."

The first sentence out of the Hokage's mouth didn't make any sense. Not that SHikamaru was surprised, it looked like Naruto hadn't slept a wink since he was told about the arranged marriage. "Naruto we've talked about that. They would get nothing out of annulling the contract. Not only would it be seen as an insult to the Hyuuga, but their stance and stature as a clan is about to be monumentally lifted. Especially considering how hard they fought for this position, there isn't a single chance they'd change their minds now."

Naruto shook his head rapidly. "But if I could _just_ talk to them. I could change their minds!"

"There's nothing in the contract about a third-party getting involved. There's no doubt there are others trying to talk both the Hyuuga and the Yuuichi out of this marriage, other clans wanting to wed the heir. But I highly doubt they'd listen to you. Even if you _are_ the Hokage."

Naruto blinked slowly. "Could I-"

"You can't declare war on another country simply because they've been contracted to marry the girl you love. It's not illegal."

"It should be! Can't I even-"

"You can't declare arranged-marriages illegal either. Besides, this one has already been declared, so if you were to do something so stupid, this contract would still remain in effect."

"Okay, then I'll talk to them! They can still back out of the contract right? I'll convince them to let her go."

Shimamaru nodded, "They can back out up until the day of the marriage. As can the Hyuuga." He still was skeptical about Naruto's crazy idea, but knowing the Hokage like he did, the probability of him succeeding on his determination alone was considerable. He had an ability, that Uzumaki. One he barely even realised himself.

"Then I need to go!" And as swiftly as he came – albeit much quieter – Naruto disappeared.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

Konohamaru wasn't surprised when his boss reappeared less than an hour later in his 'Hokage-mode', all serious and demanding. "I need a team."

And immediately, his assistant was intrigued. "For what?"

"I'm going to bring Hinata back. I'd go alone, but I don't think it's acceptable for the Hokage to travel by himself."

"Alright. Who do you want?" Konohamaru grinned. It had been a while since he had seen his boss this compassionate about something.

"Bring me Sasuke. He's been too lazy lately. The two of us can handle it."

"Can I come?"

When Naruto looked up Konohamaru's eyes were wide, begging, lips in a pout.

"Konohamaru you're eighteen, not eight. That won't work on me any… alright stop it you can come." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Get ahold of Shikamaru and Kakashi – they're taking over from me while I'm gone. Send them in so I can let them know. This will be considered a diplomatic mission. Of importance. No one will know more than that except Shikamaru, Kakashi, and the three of us going on the mission."

"Worried they'll judge you and you'll have to get removed as Hokage?"

"Shut it. And then get ready. We leave tomorrow morning. Dawn."

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

"Don't you think you're cutting it a bit close with your girlfriend? I mean, she's getting married."

"Shut up Sasuke." Naruto growled as his best friend appeared next to him first thing the next morning. He couldn't sleep, so Naruto had been packed and waiting at the village entrance for the past hour.

"I mean, when did you figure it out? You've loved her for years. But no, of course. You're too oblivious and you had to wait until she was engaged to somebody else to realise." Sasuke chuckled, dodging an angry fist from his Hokage. "How jealous _did_ you get when you found out? I can imagine that would've been entertaining."

The next punch hit him square in the jaw, sending him stepping back from the power behind it. "I said shut up Sasuke!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, stretching his jaw. "Alright, alright. Calm down, Dobe."

"Can we leave now?" Konohomaru must've appeared during their altercation, the younger man hopping from foot to foot in excitement. "It's been a while since I've been on a mission. Being your assistant sure is boring, Boss!"

"Do you want me to fire you?"

"No, Sir!"

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

The land of Iron was a cool, mountainous region, home to a number of wealthy clans, but wasn't large enough or prominent enough to contain a shinobi empire. Most money was created through blacksmithery, and particularly talented individuals created chakra weapons that created a lot of the wealth of the country. The legendary seven swords were created here, along with many other lesser-known weapons. The other source of wealth was through their avid mining industry, and jewels, which were sometimes incorporated into their weapons for particularly wealthy buyers.

It would be fair to say that the nation was more than surprised to see a man that looked an awful lot like the Hokage of Konoha walking through their small towns, but for the most part ignored him and his two friends as travellers – there were many that visited their fair and wealthy country. Mostly in need of weaponry or knowledge.

"There's no colour here." Konohamaru complained as they walked through the land of Iron, kicking a small rock out of the way.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "What did you expect? This is the land of Iron."

Naruto ignored his two companions, and sped toward the nearest human being, "Excuse me? Hi, I'm looking for the Yuuichi residence. Do you know where I can find it?"

Before the man even finished talking, Naruto was off in the direction he pointed. Sasuke and Kohonamaru sighed, following the blonde at a much more regular pace. The idiot had made them run the whole way here, and still wasn't letting up on the pace.

"It's not like she's going anywhere!" Konohamaru yelled after him, to no success.

It didn't take Naruto long to find the Yuuichi residence. To no surprise, it looked like a wealthy-clan address – Big. And wealthy. Naruto grumbled about all the unnecessary illustrations of wealth. Random statue-like waterfall out the front. Hinata would hate it here.

 _Not like that'd matter,_ Naruto thought to himself, _Yuuichi would be coming to Konoha._

And that thought just made him depressed, so he shook his thoughts from his head, raised his chin, and stepped toward the entrance.

"Hi. Excuse me, sir. I'm looking for Iwao Yuuichi. He should be here with one Hinata Hyuuga. There's an urgent matter I must discuss with him."

The guard looked at him, his brow knitted in annoyance. "Do you think you're funny? Go away, Jackass."

Naruto stepped back, temper flaring, "What the hell's you're problem? I'm just looking to talk to Iwao. I'm not here to cause problems. I swear!"

"Is this a prank?"

Now the guard was looking confused.

And so was Naruto.

"What are you talking about?"

"Iwao's dead."

Naruto jumped back, confused. "What? Then what do you need Hinata for? Is she returning to the village?" Relief washed through him.

"Something doesn't make sense." Naruto looked over to see Sasuke standing behind him. Looking just as interested in this conversation as he was. "When did Iwao die?"

"About a year and a half ago." The guard was no longer angry by this conversation, now feeling almost just as confused as the Konoha nin.

There was several moments of dead silence as the Konoha ninja processed this new information. "He died?!" Naruto yelled, anger burning at his core. A solid hand clamping onto his shoulder calmed him down gently. "Then who created the contract? Who was in _my_ villiage just over a week ago?!"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, but Iwao is dead, and there haven't been any more by his name since then." The guard looked a little bit disconcerted with the way this conversation was going. "I'm sorry, if that's not what you wanted to hear."

"Then where the _hell_ is _Hinata_?!" Naruto was no longer talking to the guard. He spun on his feet and grabbed Sasuke by the collar, growling at his face.

Sasuke knew he was more angry at himself than anything, but that didn't mean the Hokage grabbing him by the collar didn't piss him off. Grumbling, Sasuke removed Naruto's hands and thanked the guard. "We better find her then." He knew that's what the Hokage wanted to hear, and turned to walk away.

Konohamaru, meanwhile, was standing by with his jaw dropped open, astounded by the whole conversation. _What does he mean Iwao's dead? That doesn't…._ He glanced at his boss. "Naruto…"

Naruto looked down at him.

"I'll find her. Whatever it takes."

Konohamaru looked at him, "But how? She could be anywhere!"

Naruto grinned, and his fingers deftly formed a hand-sign.

"Kage bushin no jutsu."

Sasuke stood next to the horde of Naruto, all of which were silent, but radiating an anger he hadn't seen in a very long time. "She couldn't be far from here. Hinata's not stupid. She'd have known if they were taking her in a different direction to Iron village. So we just need to find where that is."

Naruto nodded. "Everyone's got that picture of him from his file. So all we need to do is ask."

And with that, the horde disappeared.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

Konohamaru stepped through the small village, picture of Iwao grasped tightly in his fingers. He had to find the girl for his boss – who was already losing his mind.

He himself couldn't quite grasp how these events had changed so quickly. From a mission to bring back the Hyuuga, to her being missing – it was a lot to get his head around.

"Excuse me!" He called out to a young woman standing at a vendor. "Is there any chance you've seen this man?"

The lady was young, pretty. She looked at him warily for the moment – noticing his konoha headband, but smiled daintily at him before glancing at the picture. Konohamaru grinned, he was very lucky, even though he was 16 he still looked fairly young, which meant people were much more likely to do as he asked without suspicion.

But when the lady shook her head and said she hadn't seen him, Konohamaru wasn't sure who else he could turn to. This was the tenth person he'd asked in just as many minutes, and so far he had nothing to go on.

The boss was going to be devastated if he couldn't find her.

Hell, Konoha would be rioting with the loss of their new Hyuuga head.

Blinking back into reality, Konohamaru turned as a new male walked by him through the village. "Hey, sir!" Konohamaru grabbed for his attention. "Have you seen this man at all?"

It was kind of funny how the people in the country looked so much like the country itself. Was there any colour at all in this place? The young man was no older than 25 with hair so dark grey it was almost black. He was thin, but not unnaturally so – but it wasn't like Konohamaru could see any fresh produce being grown out here. Must all be imported, _poor guy,_ Konohamaru sighed. His eyes where a blue so shaded it was almost grey and his clothing didn't seem to do much better. His hair was cropped at his neck, kind of like Sakura's, and that thought alone made Konohamaru want to chuckle. It would've been brilliant if this guy's hair was pink.

The young man smiled at the leaf nin before taking a decent look at the picture. "Sorry, I haven't seen him."

Konohamaru sighed. "That's okay." He wouldn't give up. She couldn't be too far. Maybe he should be asking people on the outskirts of the village – because she obviously wasn't taken to the Yuuichi residence, them being seen here impersonating one of them would've been noticed. If only-

"Although…"

Konohamaru spun back around to the male, eyes wide with hope. "I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked.

The man smiled, "I just thought I might have seen-"

Two fingers hit the back of his neck in quick succession, and charka flew into his throat. Konohamaru didn't have enough time to react before the chakra sent blackness into his vision and his senses and he hit the miscoloured ground of Iron country.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

Bleary eyes opened slowly. _Where am I? What happened?_ A hand came up from the thick dirt ground to rub against a forehead, in an attempt to clear the mind.

Where was she?

An attempt to activate her byakygan turned into an astounding migrane, causing Hinata to groan and lie against the cool dirt floor, taking moments to catch her breath.

Manipulating chakra was out of the question, so Hinata simply opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. It was a crudely made area. Tents and bedrolls filled the area. While that wouldn't be seen as odd, except for the fact that each tent had the foundation of something that had been there for a long while.

How long had these people been living here?

Rolling onto her knees, Hinata looked at the bars surrounding her.

This was even more out of place.

The only thing that was not crudely made was the cage surrounding her, thick bars of chakra-restraining steel only inches apart from one another so she couldn't slip through. It didn't make much sense, but she needed to figure out why she was here.

Where was Iwao? Had he done this? Hinata's eyes narrowed. She only had the facts of what she could see, and while that wasn't much, one thing was for certain. These people had been waiting in these woods for a very long time, and they didn't have much in terms of luxury, or even food. But they build or bought this high end cage that may have been waiting here for years. And now she was inside it.

Her capture had been a long time coming.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

Sasuke stood atop one of the many iron roofs of this dreary countryside, watching with interest as his ally got knocked out by a grey-haired ninja and his much larger companion in the street. Konohamaru lay on the ground, unconscious but by no means dead, and the men simply walked by as if nothing were array.

Sasuke sighed. He could have stopped the duo from attacking the idiot, but then he wouldn't have gotten the information he needed. Or found the perpetrators that were causing the Hokage so much strife.

Subtly, Sasuke followed the duo via the rooftops, silently. He was going to find out where they came from, and where they were hiding the Hyuuga. Deftly placing his hands together, Sasuke created a single shadow clone, silently ordering it to go alert the real Naruto and send him this way.

It seems the Hyuuga wasn't very far away after all.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

Hinata picked up on him first. Which was confusing, but she kept that information in the back of her head for future reference. She didn't know how long she'd been unconscious, but it must have been a few days if Sasuke had travelled here – unless he had been following her this whole time.

She actually wouldn't put that past Naruto.

But she ignored the thoughts, and diverted her eyes from the tops of the trees where she sensed Sasuke's chakra. She had to focus on what she knew for sure – ideas that were becoming more and more cemented as she watched Iwao step out of one of the tents, no longer garbed in the wealthy Yuuichi clan attire but ninja pants and a vest.

"Who are you?" She asked, sitting in the middle of her prison.

Iwao looked up, eyes meet hers. Hard. Angry. "You don't recognise me, do ya sweet cheeks?" Gone was the posh wealthy accent and here was one only belonging to a rebel. She shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. He was a good actor.

Hinata shook her head. "If I have angered you in some way, tell me, and we can sort it all out." Hinata brought up her diplomatic upbringing. Making him angry now won't solve her problems.

He sauntered up to the cage, steps fierce and angry. "You're asking if I'm angry?" He yelled, pointing a harsh finger at her, "What? You think I have no right to be angry! I'm finishing my brother's mission, because he _died_ because of _you_!" He was yelling by the end, spitting his last words out in such anger Hinata had to wipe the excess off of her face.

Hinata blinked, "I'm not sure what you're referring to.."

"You LIAR!" He yelled, gripping the bars in his hands as if he was about to fight to get her inside. Hinata blacked up. "You're nothing but a spoilt little bitch! You deserve-"

"Calm down, Kanou," a cold voice perpetrated the area, causing Hinata's eyebrows to rise. She had though this Kanou guy was the one in charge, judging by his anger, but that voice just illustrated control and leadership. No doubt this guy was in charge. And thus, in walked a slim man with dark-grey hair and ferocious eyes. Directed at her.

He looked even angrier than Kanou. A little more composed.

Hinata looked to him for answers. "I'm not sure why I'm here."

She was still to delirious to move fast enough, so the kunai sliced past her shoulder, causing her to wince and fall back into the cage. And the new guy walked up to her, steady, and angry. "You caused my fathers death. I should open that door and let my uncle kill you right now." He mused, watching the blood drip down her shoulder. "But I won't. Yet."

Hinata could sense Sasuke shuffling slightly on the branch he was seated on. What was he waiting fo-

"What do we have here?"

Naruto.

The blonde was suddenly standing in the middle of the area, looking around, eyes dark and dangerous. She watched him quickly take not of both Kanou and his nephew, quick to find the both of them to be the leaders, and the rest of the group who were shuffling uncomfortably at his presence. Hinata could almost hear a sigh coming from the trees, before Sasuke appeared by the Hokage's side, lazily spinning a kunai around his fingers.

Kanou looked shaken by this new presence, but the new kid rolled his eyes. Unworried. "What do you want Uzumaki?" he asked, turning his back to where he was standing in front of Hinata. He was cocky.

"I was just _wondering,"_ Naruto mused, eyes darker than coal, "what you could possibly want with one of my ninja."

"She simply owes me a favour. Nothing to do with you, so if you could go on your way, that would be appreciated."

Sasuke snorted.

Naruto laughed. A dark, humourless chuckle that sent the hairs on edge of most of the people in the vicinity. "Oh, I'm not going anywhere. So you better start talking."

Hinata watched as Kanou backed up until he was against the bars. He was fearful of Naruto, and Hinata was not going to hesitate to use it for her advantage. Reaching her arms through the bars, she pulled the older man into a head lock, one arm around his throat, the other at his temple holding him still. "I'd have to agree with the Hokage," Hinata's soft voice reached the man, who was now struggling to free himself. It wasn't going to happen. "Start talking."

Kanou looked to his nephew for help, "Tai." The leader had a name.

The younger man sighed and walked around cage like a tiger watching his prey. Hinata's eyes followed him closely, but she didn't let up on Kanou's neck. Naruto watched him just as closely. "You can tell them, Kanou. What we're doing is well founded and of none of the business of the Hokage. _She,"_ he hissed toward the Hyuuga, "deserves this."

Kanou swallowed under Hinatas forearm, before taking a breath and darkening his expression. "A little over fifteen years ago, this main branch Hyuuga was kidnapped by someone very close to me. He died in that scuffle, killed by her father. My brother did not want this! He was only completing a mission that was given to him by the Raikage! He did not deserve to die." His words were dark and cold, and Hinata could feel the anger directed at her. "And when news came back to the village of what had happened, do you know what the Raikage did?! He renounced the mission as if it were my brother's idea! He said he was working alone. And _then_?! He banished our clan. Like we were _trash."_

"We're just looking for a bit of vengeance."

Hinata gasped as the voice came from inside her prison, and turned her head in time to catch Tai grabbing her around the throat and pushing a kunai into one of her kidneys. Hinata groaned. He wasn't pulling punches. This was no threat, she thought as the kunai slid deeper into her body. They were quite serious.

Naruto stood, frozen, as Hinata had no choice but to drop Kanou and Tai laughed. "I want her eyes. Because I'm going to finish what my father started."

"Oh, I don't think so." Hinata looked up, confused as Sasuke was the one who spoke. Her surprise widened when she only saw the Uchiha standing in front of her, Naruto nowhere to be seen.

"Looks like you're on your own, sugar." Tai spoke into her ear, a laugh in his voice.

"Actually, she's not." Naruto's voice came from behind her. And then, she was free. She would have dropped, if it weren't for a pair of arms curling around her and keeping her upright.

She wasn't even sure what happened – but she was suddenly in Naruto's arms and there was no where she'd rather be. "Naruto," She whispered, reaching a hand up to grip his arm that had curled around her frame.

"Hey," He smiled down at her, pulling her away from the unconscious Tai and out of the cage. Hinata looked around, and saw that Sasuke had quickly disposed of Kanou who was in handcuffs. "Let's go home."

"Not quite."

A flash of anger, and a flash of pain flew through Hinata's already malnourished form, and she flew back into one of the crudely formed tents.

"Grab her!" a horde of people from the forest and inside the tents appeared, grabbing for Hinata while she was recovering from the hit. Her eyes were blurry, with the pain, but she recognised that voice.

Tai was standing a few steps behind the body that was knocked out inside the cage. "We need her to survive." He wasn't talking to the Konoha nin anymore, he was talking to the people living in this poor excuse for a community. "We can't live like this anymore! We deserve better. And with her eyes. With _her_ , we can go back to Kumogakure and thrive like we once did! We deserve this!"

The people rallied.

Naruto looked between Tai and the other Tai, confused. "I knocked you out." He said to the one who was standing. "I sensed you lose consciousness."

Tai grinned. "Why do you think we became such a wealthy clan in Kumo? We won't be beaten so easily." He moved.

Naruto prepared himself for battle. "Sasuke, if you don't get Hinata out of here in the next two minutes I'll kill you myself!" He yelled, running at their leader. "I'll take this guy."

"Twins."

"What?" Naruto yelled as he blocked a punch aimed for his jaw, dropping down to sweep his legs out from under him.

Sasuke already had Hinata in his hands, the horde unconscious at his feet. It had literally taken him seconds to plow through them, and pick up the tied Hyuuga. Disappointing, even. "That one you knocked unconscious," Sasuke stated, walking away from the battle, "is a twin to this guy. This clan isn't strong, he was trying to psyche you out."

Naruto blinked. The not-Tai blinked. Konohamaru, that had just entered the area after his time on the floor of the land of Iron – blinked.

Naruto grinned.

"Even if you were strong," He clenched his fists, "You've got nothing on me."

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

It didn't take very long to reach Konoha again – even with a pack of clan members following closely behind. Konohamaru was quick to ask what the Hokage was going to do with all these people, and Naruto without a hesitation talked about inviting them to stay in the village.

"That's what you want, right?" He said, smiling at Tai and Dai – painful names, Sasuke thought when the second twin finally gave up hope and introduced himself.

The twins were gobsmacked. "Uh, we tried to kidnap and sell your…" Tai looked between Naruto and Hinata, not quite sure what to call the two of them. Obviously she wasn't his girlfriend, since she was placed in an arranged marriage, but there was something clearly between the two.

Naruto laughed. "Hinata would've kicked your butt and invited you back to Konoha anyway!" He smiled, patting the girl on her back. "It just would've taken a little bit longer."

The girl looked up to him, smiling.

"You make a brilliant Hokage, Naruto-sama."

He looked down at her, surprised. "What makes you say that?"

Hinata shrugged, an all-knowing look in her eyes. "We're just very lucky to have you."

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

 **Thoughts?**

 **I hope you're not too disappointed of the lack of romance in their reunion! While Naruto is naturally a really physical person, I would see Hinata as reserved, and reckon they would prefer their affection to be behind closed doors.**

 **Besides, at this point Naruto's really nervous about their one shared kiss and Hinata's just happy that her arranged marriage un-arranged itself (yay for evil-doers!). But this could be a nice roundabout ending to this fic.**

 **But;**

 **I can keep going. Because not all the loose ends are tied up in this fic, so I could write another part. Sort of like an epilogue, but it'll probably be just as long as these last few chapters.**

 **Let me know what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Un-Arranging an Arranged Marriage...**

 **Okay, before I get started, I better clear up some things:**

 **Would like to give a big middle finger to all the passive-aggressive (and just plain aggressive) idiots on the internet. Please, I'm a twenty year old who's priorities right now are focused on mid-year exams and the last few essays I need to submit so I can pass this semester. If you have a problem, write your own bloody story (or at least be constructive and not an idiot)! (Everyone else – I wrote this last chapter for you, you guys are awesome!)**

 **Hinata was not stabbed. Initially, that was the idea, but when I re-read it, it sounded more like the kunai was pressed into her. And, I didn't want Naruto to go psychotic or Hinata to be left out of commission, so I left it like that. Also, personal experience (sport, not my secret past time of crime-fighting), being hit it the kidney hurts like a son of a bitch so I thought it would be a nice addition. (And imagine if it was by a ninja, it would be 100x worse!)**

 **Naruto deciding to keep the clan. Also, wasn't the plan in the beginning, let's be honest. They were all going to go to jail or heaven, the world a happier place BUT… I wanted to keep Naruto in character. And all these guys really wanted was to be accepted back into their home – we don't judge here! And if Naruto was going to forgive Obito for killing Neji (still don't quite understand this by the way!), there was no way I could let him kill off these people without them actually doing anything to deserve that from him. And I tried really hard in this fic to keep both Naruto and Hinata in character as much as possible (considering I don't do that very often).**

 **And yes I'm finishing this story off with a final chapter. (Even though I quite liked my unromantic average ending – had a realistic feel to it) but, enjoy!**

 _Summary:_ _Naruto Uzumaki finally became what he always wanted, The Hokage of Konoha. And Hinata Hyuuga, through blood, sweat and tears finally became head of the Hyuuga clan. But one problem arises, the only way she can stay head is if she goes through with an arranged marriage. Hinata, distressed, tells Naruto the news, and there's no way he's going to let one of his best friends go through with an arranged marriage they don't want! He just needs to find out how to stop it._

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

The Hyuuga were about to perform their own coup.

Naruto should have expected it – hell, Sasuke had been muttering about it the whole walk back – but he couldn't simply let people in need suffer in that horrible little community they'd built from the ground up. He had no choice but to offer them refuge in his home! It was what anyone would do.

When he told the Hyuuga elders this, he was almost jyuukened through the floor.

Clearly, the Hyuuga didn't agree.

"-And as our leader, how could you allow yourself to be kidnapped and imprisoned by them? This is unheard of a Hyuuga Head!"

"Well, she is our first female head, what were we to expect?"

"We expected a semblance of dignity! _That's_ what we expected!"

They were still going.

Hinata did not look away from the degradation she was getting from the elders. She couldn't tell from Hiashi, but her grandfather Kouhei did not look impressed. And his sister even less so. Then again, she hadn't seen a positive expression on Fumiko's face in years. Hinata took a breath. Sure, she was fidgeting slightly, but she wasn't going to back down or look away in front of her clan. She also couldn't look at Naruto because he was rolling his eyes like a fool – unbecoming of a Hokage but she really had to fight to keep that smile off of her face because of it.

"Hey," Hinata wasn't sure Naruto realised he was interrupting one of the clan elders, because he was looking at the Tai-Dai duo, clearly not listening to the Hyuuga (Sasuke had his hand to his forehead in shame). "What's your clan name anyway?"

Sasuke hit himself rapidly in the head.

The elders' mouths opened – gobsmacked.

For some reason, Hiashi looked like he wanted to laugh.

Hinata wanted to be literally anywhere else but there.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

"Well, it looks like we have the rest of those marriage applicants to look through, better get started now," Hiashi's voice broke out through the squabbling pack, after the Yamanashi clan (they finally had a name!) had finally left along with Konohamaru, with orders to seek out Shikamaru and arrange a temporary place to stay until they could get settled somewhere more permanent.

Naruto's eyes widened with something akin to fear, and Hinata wasn't too far behind. But Sasuke was watching the ex-Hyuuga head carefully. He seemed to have an ulterior motive. Actually, the way he was looking at Naruto made that motive clear to him, but the two next to him were too focused on the word ' _marriage'_ to get it.

Sasuke sighed, he had to do everything these days – he wasn't a bloody matchmaker for Kami's sake!

As the elders mumbled together about the other options they had in mind, Sasuke swung out an elbow and pelted Naruto in the shoulder with probably more force than necessary.

"I volunteer!" His words flew out of his mouth before he knew what was happening, and Hinata stood next to him was blinking rapidly as she tried to process his words.

The Hyuuga elders' mouths dropped open.

The silence that followed was deafening and Naruto spluttered when he realised what he said. "I mean- If Hinata agrees to it-I'm not saying…" He stopped. Took a deep breath and turned away from the elders, facing the raven-haired Hyuuga who was standing next to her.

"I'm willing to volunteer. If you're willing to give me a try. Engagement. And then if you'll still have me-"

Hinata laughed. And Naruto probably would have been offended if the laugh didn't come out like pearls of joy rolling through the compound. Tears in her eyes, and her cheeks a magnificent light pink – she smiled at him.

He was in complete awe of her.

"Yes."

Hiashi grinned.

"He has nothing he can offer the Hyuuga." Fumiko was quick to sprout her opinion, waving off the idea with a twist of her hand. "Unacceptable."

"Nothing?" Naruto asked, chin high, "I am your Hokage."

"He has influence," Kouhei placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, stepping aside to review the young man before him. "Son of the yellow flash. Has connections all over the lands. Well-regarded by the Hokage. Could benefit the Hyuuga clan greatly."

"He's not a pawn." Hinata stepped forward, looking her grandfather in the eye, "Even if we were to marry, you can't use him because he's your grandson-in-law. You have no influence over him, and he wont do anything to offend the village." She stepped forward again, "Do not think, grandfather, that if you have the Hokage in this family that he will bow down to you. We are the _Hyuuga,_ and _I_ will be the head of this clan. And when I am, there will be some changes that have to be made."

Kouhei scoffed, "You are my granddaughter. You are nothing." He spat at the young Hyuuga. "You're right sister, he simply will not do. We'll find another. A female head is too irrational, we need a… flexible mind behind her. She is simply a figure-head, as we all know."

Fumiko nodded in agreement. "Agreed. Let's look through those offers."

Hinata stepped forward, her lavender eyes hard like steel, "Actually," Her soft voice was coated in a cord of authority, and Hiashi was happy the elders would be finally beginning to see what an asset she would be as a clan leader, "according to Hyuuga law if there are multiple suitors vying for a marriage, they have a right to decide on marriage through battle." She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Naruto, feeling a little unsure if he'd be willing to do this for her.

"I'll fight anybody!"

She smiled.

"She knows her laws well," Hiashi mumbled to the elders, hiding a smug smile under his expressionless eyes. "And there would be very few who could hold a flame to our current Hokage."

"We will discuss this further. For now, you're dismissed."

"Also," Hinata's gentle voice rang out like steel through the building as she turned her back, "When I finally get my place as head do not believe that I will remain a simple _figure head."_

Naruto would never know for certain, be he could have sworn Hiashi winked at him before he stepped out of the compound.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

"So," Naruto dragged the word out as the duo stepped away from the Hyuuga compound into the streets of Konoha.

"You don't have to marry me." Her voice was much quieter than before, the authority gone. Naruto looked at her, shocked, until she started to speak again; "It's clearly a Hyuuga problem, one that goes much deeper than even I can imagine. I need to be the one to fix this, but I do not wish to drag you into this Naruto-kun." She was looking at the ground. "I've caused too much trouble for you already."

Naruto looked at her for a moment, thinking. They were currently walking through the Hyuuga district in Konoha, and people were going about their day unaware of the circumstances that led them here today. It was warm, the village was happy – for the most part.

Naruto wanted to be that happy.

"Come on, let's sit."

He led the Hyuuga female to the grassy area just behind a picnic bench. She looked confused as he opted to lay on the grass rather than the furniture provided, but followed his example. Thus, the two were laying on the grassy floor, staring up at the vast blue sky that looked down on their home. Konoha.

"Sometimes," Naruto mumbled, looking up at the clouds, "I can really see what Shikamaru sees in this."

"It's peaceful." Hinata agreed, getting comfortable upon the grass, and enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face.

"I want to marry you." The words burst out from his throat as he stared at the clouds above, refusing to glance over even as Hinata startled toward him at his words. "So badly. For a while that's all I've been able to think about." He took a long, deep breath. "I've felt nothing but jealousy since this arranged marriage business started, and it took me some time, but I've realised its because I want you to myself."

Hinata tugged at his arm gently, so he could turn toward her. He hesitated for a few moments, eyes sticking to the clouds, before reluctantly turning to hers, shining with uncertainty.

Her eyes, however, were brimming with confidence, a determination he rarely saw outside of battle. "I'm in love with you Naruto." She said, words strong, vibrating through his being. "I've been in love with you for a long time. But I don't want to force you into anything because my family is struggling. I want you to want me because of the woman I am. And it might take some time for me to become a woman that deserves you." She sighed, finally turning away from his eyes. "I think I've taken a step in the right direction today. Standing up to my family. And I will become that person that you deserve, but I don't want you to force yourself to be with me until I can properly fight for you. Or deserve you."

Naruto laughed. A loud, vibrant sound that echoed throughout the park, not full of mirth but some sort of disbelief. The sound shocked the Hyuuga heir, and her breath caught. He probably thought she could never be deserving of him, no matter how hard she tried. She would never be like Sakura and Ino, brimming with sexual confidence and self-worth that came with loving families and affection. Maybe she could just never be what he was looking for.

"You don't get it."

Her face fell at his words, and she moved into a seating position, preparing herself for the worst.

"You can't become someone deserving of me. I'm not going to fall in love with you because you finally take your place as head of the Hyuuga clan, powerful and politically worthy. I'm not going to fall in love with someone because they think they can stand beside me in strength, or in power. That doesn't appeal to me at all."

Every word was like a punch to the gut. Hinata's eyes lowered, but they narrowed in understanding, and determination. "Is there nothing I can do then?" She asked quietly.

"Hinata." He reached down, and gripped her hand tightly, feeling her slim, strong fingers in his grip. "I don't want someone with power, I want someone who cares enough to try. I don't care how long it'd take you to become a proper head of the Hyuuga, where you can lead yourself and not be a figure head to the elders, I care about the determination that you have to get you there. I care about the person who will try and save the Hyuuga, because they're family, even though they're also all kinds of corrupted right now. I love the woman that fights for what she believes in, no matter how many odds are stacked against her. I love you. I want to be with the woman you are now, and stand by your side as you fight for what you believe in. I want to fight alongside you. I want to watch you win, and be able to be proud of you when you do. I love you."

There were several moments of silence. And Naruto waited quietly for Hinata to make her move. He had been feeling pretty confident about her feelings for him, and the way she would react, but putting your feelings on the line was never an easy feat. And he was shocked at the current of uncertainty that gave him.

He had nothing to worry about.

Hinata moved quickly. She rolled swiftly on the grass, until her legs were straddling his and her head centimetres from his own. A gentle laugh escaped her lips, and his eyes darkened in awe and a darker lust as she sat atop of him.

"Not very becoming of the Hyuuga head, is this Hina-hime?" He teased, eyes bright and grin wide.

"I don't care." She pressed her lips to his.

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

 **FIN.**

 **~ (((UN-ARRANGING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.)) ~**

 **There. I know I promised something long, but here's something short and sweet for all you romance fiends. Happy? I really enjoyed writing this story, it was good fun to get back in the swing of things!**

 **Also, a part of me wanted to do something really evil and finish this story with the Hyuuga arranging another arranged marriage for Hinata and thus create a cycle – because that would be hilarious – but I feel like you guys would come after me with pitchforks and stakes so I held myself back and wrote something lovely. You're welcome.**

 **And I absolutely loved playing with Naruto's kind of stupid personality – it was fun. He never really thinks anything through, does he? Hope you guys enjoyed this little piece of writing, review and let me know what you think!**

 **The Devil.**

 **P.S. I have a poll up on my profile, have a look and help me out! Cheers!**


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